Irish rap group Kneecap have spoken out after prosecutors announced they will appeal against a court’s decision to throw out the terrorism case against rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh.
The trio said the case is politically driven, that the Crown Prosecution Service has submitted nothing new in its appeal, and vowed to “fight in court again”.
The CPS said in a short statement it would be appealing against the decision because “we believe there is an important point of law which needs to be clarified”.
O hAnnaidh was accused of displaying a flag in support of proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah at a gig in November last year, until a technical error in the way he was charged led to the chief magistrate ruling he could not try the case.
In a social media post the band said: “Once again this is a massive waste of taxpayers money, of police time, of court time.
“Once again there are endless news reports about Mo Chara, about Kneecap but we are NOT the story.
“We will fight you in your court again. We will win again.
“News of a Crown Prosecution Service Appeal against the ruling of their own judge is unsurprising.
“He ruled the charge was ‘unlawful and null’ and it was.”
Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring agreed with O hAnnaidh’s lawyers that prosecutors needed to seek the permission of the attorney general to charge the rapper, before informing him on May 21 that he would be charged with a terror offence.
It is understood the CPS’s position is that permission only needed to be obtained before his first court hearing, which took place about a month later.
The band’s statement continued: “It is unsurprising because this whole process has not been driven by the police or the courts, it has been driven by politicans (sic) backed up by British media. This is political policing.
“There is no ‘important point of law’. The CPS have submitted nothing new in their appeal.
“What there is though, is a state wide witch-hunt against Palestinan (sic) solidarity.”
“The media were gleefully informed about this appeal before we were,” they added.
The decision to appeal against the judgment comes as Attorney General Lord Hermer warned shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick not to prejudice future proceedings against O hAnnaidh, asking him to “carefully consider any further public comments”.
Mr Jenrick had previously written to Lord Hermer calling for an urgent inquiry into the issue, claiming it “raised serious questions about the competence of all those involved”.
The chief magistrate called the decision to charge O hAnnaidh “unlawful”, as he dismissed the case while sitting at Woolwich Crown Court on September 26.
Prosecutors allege O hAnnaidh can be seen in a recording of a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, which shows him wearing and displaying the flag of Hezbollah while saying “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”.
In an interview with Virgin Media News, the rapper told the Prime Minister “better luck next time”, adding: “Even if it had went to court we would have won anyway.”
